All I Can Give Is Love
by thelightningstrike
Summary: ... As Love Is All I Have. 100 pairings in 100 short oneshots for a challenge at the HPFFC. Currently Dean/Parvati. 14/100. First Update in 3 years!
1. Harry & Susan

**One**

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**Pairing: **Harry Potter & Susan Bones

**Word Count: **491

**Summary:** Susan tells Harry something he never expected to hear.

**Author's Notes: **For the 100 pairings challenge on the HPFFC. This one is Harry/Susan, from Table E: Pairings that never happened, and it's very random, because obviously it is in no way a canon ship, but I like to think this is at least plausible. In case you're wondering, I'm CullenCrazy32 with a new pen name. Remember to review, please? Thanks xD

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"Harry!"

He turned his head quickly to look behind him. It was Susan Bones. "Susan?" He was surprised at her being up and about so early- it was six in the morning, he was heading for the owlery.

She smiled slightly and jogged to catch up with him. She was tall, taller than him, with long light red hair in a plait that hung from behind her right ear all the way to her waist.

He paused and waited for her to fall into step beside him, wondering what she wanted, as they hardly ever spoke apart from at DA meetings, where she was never afraid to ask him for help.

"I noticed you as I was heading for a walk in the grounds- I do most mornings, clears the head," she explained with a tentative smile. "I just took the opportunity, seeing as you are alone, to tell you something." She paused and Harry glanced at her. Their brisk walk had slowed to an easy stroll.

"Go ahead," he said, nonplussed. Perhaps she was concerned about one of the spells they'd been doing in the DA- in fact, she was struggling with Protego at the moment.

"Well," she took a deep breath, "I just wanted you to know how much I admire you, Harry. I think you do a really great job, you know, with You-Know-Who and everything. You're an inspiration to me," she said quickly, which Harry found odd, as Susan had always been a very good public speaker; very calm, very regal. Something told him she hadn't finished, as she was hesitating.

"Thank you, Susan. That means a lot to me," he said politely, meaning it, because this year it was always nice to know when someone supported him, then added more awkwardly, "Are you alright?"

"I- no," she said, with a shaky laugh. They had stopped walking. "Not really. Harry- I'm sorry to drop this on you so suddenly and I _know _about you and Cho- it's just I can't contain it anymore- I'm really sorry-"

"Susan, what is it?" Harry was starting to get alarmed now, especially as Susan had tears in her eyes. "What's wrong?"

She closed her eyes tight shut, with a pained expression and then opened them decidely. "I love you."

Harry stared; there was nothing else for him to do. Susan Bones? In love with _him_?

She continued quickly, blurting the rest of it out. "But it's okay, I know it's not reciprocal and it won't ever be, because I know you're with Cho and you're a beautiful couple, really, but I just needed to get it out, you know? I just had to tell you- I would have exploded otherwise so forgive me for taking this opportunity, but I'm just so glad I got to-"

The kiss had its desired effect- it shut her up immediately. It was only a peck, short and sweet, but it left Susan reeling, a blush creeping up her neck.

"Thank you, Susan," Harry said awkwardly, "and I'm really flattered, I really am, but-"

"You're with Cho," Susan said with a smile. "I understand that." She nodded at him and tentatively touched his hand, but then walked away, her lips still tingling.

Harry watched her go, rubbing the back of his neck and wondering what on earth had just happened.

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	2. Severus & Lily

**Two**

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**Pairing: **Severus Snape & Lily Evans

**Word Count: **328

**Summary: **She is the most perfect thing he has even seen and he is- well, he is nothing.

**Author's Notes: **I really enjoyed writing this one, because I absolutely love Severus' unrequited love for Lily. This pairing was from Table D: Unrequited Love. I like some parts, but I'm not sure about the ending. Please review and tell me what you think? Did I characterise them both okay?

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They are sitting by the lake, both of them reading thick, heavy tomes from the library: Lily about charms and Severus, dark magic. Every so often Severus will look up from his, as if to exchange a small smile or sentiment with his companion, but she reads on, too deeply immersed in reading about what they will learn in later years to find interest in anything else.

Eventually Severus cannot read any longer. He cannot read about dark magic with such interest when the very epitome of all that is good is sitting right beside him. He watches her instead, greedily taking in all the aspects of her he loves the most about her, from her delicate, pale white hands to his very favourite thing, her vibrant green eyes, that shine and glimmer like pools of some wonderful green liquid.

He knows she will never feel the same way. After all, there is nothing about him that could be loved as easily as one of the many things about her. She is the most perfect thing he has ever seen and he is- well, he is nothing.

"Sev?" Her voice breaks him from his reverie. He'd drifted off in two pools of warm green.

"Mmm?" He flushes red, flustered, and picks up his book again. She looks concerned.

"Are you alright?" She's so lovely it breaks his heart.

"I'm fine, Lily. Absolutely fine." He smiles the best he can to prove the statement.

She looks unsure, but after a lingering gaze, she turns back to her book. She trusts him enough not to have to ask twice.

And he goes back to his, because he can't be caught watching her again. And even though he stares hard at the evil, twisted words he's trying to read, all he can see is green pools, which are always threatening to drown him.

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	3. Neville & Lavender

**Three**

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**Pairing: **Neville Longbottom & Lavender Brown

**Word Count: **1,002

**Summary: **She knows that Neville is braver than her because he has walked away, saving them both from something which, struck up in the middle of a war, could end so very badly.

**Author's Notes: **Again, I really enjoyed writing it. I really like exploring rare pairings and this definitely is one. This pairing is from table B: Sober Universe. I hope I did both characters justice- as usual, please tell me in a review if I didn't, or, even more wonderfully, if I did. I like to think, like both of it's predecessors, this chapter is also plausible as a real event. Thank you for reading and please review!

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It is already dark when Neville finds her. He hears the whimpering noise first, the strangled crying that he now associates with victims of the Carrow's vindictive torture. He pushes open the door to the classroom softly, so as not to startle whoever it is, and it shocked when he sees Lavender, huddled in the corner, clutching her knees to her chest and rocking back and forth.

The bruises are ridiculous. There's a massive blue one on her forehead that dips down over her eye. A purple one runs over her jaw and down her neck, and her lip is cut and bleeding in several places. Her arms are littered with them too- her beautiful, delicate arms. A soft sigh escapes Neville's lips as he bends down in front of her.

Lavender's breathing is struggled, as if it pains her to do it, as she whispers "I'm fine."

Neville shakes his head, taking out his wand. "No. But you will be," he promises, and places the tip of his wand gently on the first bruise on her arm. Non-verbally, he heals it, and proceeds to do so with all the others. When her arms are done, completely healed, he looks at her. "I'm so sorry you had to go through this."

She looks down, avoiding his eyes, and he starts on the next bruise, the large one on her forehead, leaning over her as he does so, so her face is inches away from his chest. "So what did you do?" he asks, and he knows she'll answer this time, because she'll be proud of it.

She swallows and winces as the blue bruise disappears, and he sits back, looking at her, concerned. "A first year Hufflepuff was being submitted to the Cruciatus Curse. I found them doing it in the Entrance Hall, of all places. I was going to see Hagrid- I was wondering if he had any news about- about- Harry, Hermione and- and Ron, but I never made it. He was screaming and I- I couldn't leave him there."

She pauses, remembering, and closes her eyes before carrying on. "I stunned Alecto and the first year got away, thank goodness, but Amycus came for me. He didn't even use his wand- said he wanted to relish the feel of his flesh on mine. He says that- that next time, it'll be much worse."

Neville closes his eyes too and exhales. "There won't be a next time," he says decidedly, gritting his teeth and opening his eyes. He lifts his wand. "I can sort out the last bruise- but I'm afraid Ginny's better with cuts. I'll probably make your lips worse, knowing me."

He knows it is a cheap joke and is surprised when Lavender laughs weakly. "Go on then," she says and offers her chin, closing her eyes again. He takes it in his hand softly and raises his wand to it, muttering the incantation to make it disappear. He watches it do so, the purple fading slowly until it is replaced with the pale white it is supposed to be.

Even though the bruise is gone, he still leans over her. He peers at her face, at her sore lips and her once rosy cheeks, realising how lovely she is to look at. The once annoying, bitchy girl shifts, her new kinder, softer face suddenly coming closer to his. "Is it done yet?" she says, unaware of his staring because her eyes are still closed. She opens them and they widen at his closeness. He blushes and fumbles with his wand, stowing it away in his pocket.

Despite still pining for Ron, Lavender sees something in Neville she hasn't seen in anyone for a long time and takes her hands away from around her knees, putting them behind her on the floor and using them to push her knees to the floor and her lips to Neville's, catching them in chaste kiss that neither of them expected but at the moment needed so badly. She's shorter than him, but for once they're the same height, because Neville's kneeling down and she's kneeling up. It's a perfect moment, considering why they are together in this dark classroom anyway, and when Neville pulls away, they're both blushing.

"I'm sorry," Lavender says immediately, sinking so that she, too, is kneeling down. "I shouldn't have- that was-"

"Thank you," Neville says abruptly, and stands up. She looks up at him and he extends a hand to her; slowly, she takes it and he pulls her up. "Are you feeling better now?"

Lavender blinks at him but nods anyway. "I'm fine."

"Then let's go back to the common room," he says, taking his wand out of his pocket and whispering _lumos _into the dark.

They walk back quietly, because it is a necessity for them not to get caught, but also because both of them are deep in thought. Neville holds her hand the whole way back but releases her when he gets to the common room, although not before pressing a soft kiss to her forehead.

Lavender knows, as she watches him climb the boys staircase, that this is not romance. This is not some love story where in the midst of the battle you find love and live happily ever after, forgetting all your cares. She knows that tonight is the be all and end all of _NevilleandLavender _and that tomorrow they will go back to normal, even though part of her doesn't want to. She knows that Neville is braver than her because he has walked away, saving them both from something which, struck up in the middle of a war, could end so very badly. She also knows, though, that if he would let her, she could grow to love him.

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	4. Cedric & Krum

**Four**

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**Pairing: **Cedric Diggory & Viktor Krum

**Word Count: **495

**Summary: **He almost feels guilty- as if telling Krum that Cho is his girlfriend would somehow upset him.

**Author's Notes: **Oh dear. This is the first time I've ever written slash- and boy was I dreading it. Don't get me wrong- I'm not prejudiced or anything but I literally just cannot write it. Still, I don't think I did _too _bad a job for my first attempt, even if it is shockingly bad. The pairing is Cedric/Krum from table F: Slash Pairings. I hope you enjoy it, and please review! Oh and lol, can you feel the sexual tension between them?

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"Vot are you doing?"

The low, throaty whisper startles Cedric, who is leaning over a piece of parchment in the library writing a letter to Cho. He looks up to see Krum hovering over him like some sinister bird of prey. "I- I'm writing a letter."

"To whom?" Krum's gaze is quite penetrating- almost accusatory. He sits down beside Cedric as if trying to read the letter, so Cedric shifts it under his arm where it cannot be seen.

"My- a girl." Cedric blushes. He doesn't know why he refrained from mentioning that Cho is his girlfriend. He almost feels _guilty_- as if telling Krum that Cho is his girlfriend would somehow upset him.

"Vot about?" Krum shifts closer to Cedric, trying to read the letter, but Cedric's arm remains firmly in place on top of it.

Cedric sighs and wonders where Krum is heading with this interrogation. He doesn't know what to tell Krum- he looks down at the letter to remind himself of his contents. "I'm trying to tell her I love her." Somehow, it doesn't come out right- it doesn't sound like it's true.

"And vy vud you do that?" Krum puts his elbow on the table and makes a fist, leaning his head against it so that Cedric feels even more intimidated.

"Because I-" Krum's steady gaze is enough to make Cedric falter. Why is he trying to tell Cho he loves her, anyway? He starts again. "Because I- _because_ _I_-"

"Hmm," Krum says, lifting his head from one fist and bringing it to lean on the other, even closer to Cedric's own head. Cedric can feel Krum's warm breath on his face. "Interesting."

Cedric frowns. His face and Krum's are so close together; Krum has a glint in his eye that Cedric can't quite place where he's seen it before.

"Vot if this girl vos no more?" Krum says, never taking his eyes away from Cedric's as he slides the letter from under his arm and, fluidly, into his robes without Cedric even noticing. "Vot if you love this girl no more?" He leans closer still, their eyes completely locked together. "Vot if you love some-von else instead?"

Before their lips can crash together some Hufflepuff first year skips round the corner and the moment is abruptly broken. Cedric stands quickly, almost knocking his chair to the floor and then, with a fleeting look at the Hufflepuff to check she didn't see anything and an apologetic half-nod in Krum's direction, he leaves, jogging through the aisles of the library as if he can't get away fast enough.

Krum watches him go, and when he can no longer see Cedric's tawny blonde head through the gaps in the shelves, he lets out the breath he's been holding.

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	5. Snape & Hermione

**Five**

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**Pairing: **Severus Snape & Hermione Granger

**Word Count: **558

**Summary: **He sees a lot of Lily in Miss Granger.

**Author's Note: **Gah. I tried to do Alice/Bellatrix, but I'm just not inspired for it yet. So I tried this, and I really want to do it like a real romance between them but I just didn't have any ideas for that sort of scenario as I think Snape/Hermione is really creepy, so I just did the whole compariosn to Lily thing. Hope that's okay. So this pairing is from table G: Age Gap. Ew. So I hope you like it, feedback is as always appreciated.

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Of course, the last person in the classroom is Miss Granger, feverishly copying notes from the book in front of her as if she hasn't even noticed the class has ended. Snape watches her for a minute, frowning when Miss Granger's hair, in this golden light, reflects it just as Lily's did, although it is never as pretty, as _beautiful_, as Lily's. Then the candle flickers and the golden light is gone, and he snaps back to the present.

"Miss Granger. The lesson ended five minutes ago- Potter and Weasley will be waiting for you and I am certaintly in no mood for entertaining," he says, his voice cold, even though he knows it is unfair of him as she definitely does not deserve such coldness (_Lily overworked all the time_).

She looks up and blushes, mumbling an apology as she gathers her things. Snape moves to stand a little closer to her when she bends over the green potion she has spent all lesson brewing and the green reflects in her eyes, her lovely, round eyes. He makes a heartbroken, strangled sound as he extends one hand towards her. _Lily_.

Hermione meets his eyes and alarmed, she steps backwards, stumbling against her stool. She rights herself quickly and picks up her books from the desk as he raises his hand to drag it slowly down his face. How could he be so stupid as to let his emotions rule him?

Hermione, meanwhile, reaches for her quill and then looks up at him thoughtfully. "Professor, are you alright?" Even though he is a mean and cold person, she cannot help feeling sorry for him.

He opens his eyes and they rest on her questioning lips, poised like Lily's as she had so often asked the same question. The amount of times he had wondered what they would feel like against his own lips, but he had never had the courage to take a chance. "I-"

Miss Granger lays a cautious hand on his arm, a small, pale, _lily_-white hand. He stares down at it, resting on his black cloak so innocently, in a gesture so sweet and kind and Lily-like it very almost touches his heart, but it cannot because his heart died a long time ago, stolen by someone who now could never give it back.

"Professor?"

He jumps, startled, and sees brown hair and brown eyes and a student's hand on his arm. The two share a look and Snape sees Lily again, only to be replaced by Miss Granger as she removes her hand from his arm. She gives him a tiny smile and then leaves the classroom, not looking back. He watches her go and sees her brown curls replaced by red locks, and a hurried walk is replaced by a stroll and a turn and a wink and a "_See you later, Sev_."

He smiles sadly as Miss Granger makes it to the door and disappears, taking Lily with her. He places one hand against his heart and massages it, although this does nothing to ease the dull pain gathering there.

He sees a lot of Lily in Miss Granger.


	6. Sirius & Remus

**Six**

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**Pairing: **Sirius Black & Remus Lupin

**Word Count: **413

**Summary: **Sirius' eyes are hard and fiery and Remus is trapped within them, lost in a dream that's finally coming to life.

**Author's Notes: **More slash, I'm afraid. I'm trying to get the pairings I don't want to do out of the way, but I think the next one will be one I like because I've done too many that I don't so far. The pairing is from table F: Slash Pairings, which is probably my worst table. I really don't like Sirius/Remus because I think Remus & Tonks are such a good couple, and I think Sirius and Remus have too good a friendship. Oh well- it is a challenge after all. Again, I tried to make it as plausible a situation as possible. I hope you like this one, feedback is always appreciated.

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"So what do we do now?" Sirius asks tiredly, stooping to pick up a party streamer and twirling it between his fingers. The party celebrating the get together of Lily and James ended in the early hours of the morning and Sirius and Remus were the only people left- as Remus had felt it his duty to do a bit of tidying up and Sirius as a loyal best friend had stayed with him.

"What do you mean?" Remus says from the other side of the common room where he is collecting empty bottles and vanishing them.

"Well, you know- now that James and Lily are shacked up- what becomes of us?" He flops back into one of the armchairs and looks at his friend who smiles at him. Remus hadn't realised that Sirius was quite so sentimental.

"We'll still be the Marauders, Sirius. James dating Lily doesn't change that."

Sirius frowns and pouts and suddenly reminds Remus, not for the first time, of a sulking child. "But what if it does?"

Remus sighs and vanishes the last bottle he is holding before walking over to Sirius and sitting on the arm of his chair, and puts a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. "It won't, trust me."

"I don't believe you."

"Well, that's your own fault," Remus says and makes to get up, but Sirius grabs his sleeve, accidentally pulling Remus off the arm and onto the chair with him. Their faces are closer together than they've ever been and neither of them can look away from each other. Sirius' eyes are hard and fiery and Remus is trapped within them, lost in a dream that's finally coming to life.

"Promise me," Sirius says slowly, his hand still tight around Remus' sleeve, their eyes still locked together.

Remus blinks. "I promise."

"Good," Sirius says abruptly and then laughs, pulling away and shoving at Remus. "Hey, get off me, Moony. What are you, gay or something?"

Remus stands up slowly, his back to Sirius. He doesn't say what is bubbling up inside him but instead thinks up a suitable retort. "You wish, Padfoot."

Sirius watches Remus walk over to another pile of bottles and start vanishing them. He can't quite bite back what he wants to say so he just whispers it. "_Yes, I do_."


	7. Albus & Scorpius

**Seven**

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**Pairing: **Albus Potter & Scorpius Malfoy

**Word Count: **659

**Summary: **Albus exhales and thinks if only, if only, if only.

**Author's Note: **Another slash pairing, I'm afraid. I'm trying to get them out of the way, there are 22 and now I've done 3. Oh well. This is from table I: Next Gen Pairings. I actually quite enjoyed writing this one as it's a bit one-sided (which I love writing), because as will be revealed in a future chapter I am a diehard Scorpius/Lily shipper. I really hope you enjoy it, thank you so much for the reviews! As always, feedback is appreciated.

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"I bet your Dad was furious when you told him I was your best friend," Scorpius says one day in Sixth Year while they are lounging in the Room of Requirement alone. It's sunny outside as Spring is just beginning and the light is streaming through the window, illuminating Scorpius' angled features from his position on the floor. "I bet he told you to stay away from me."

Albus looks up from where he's sitting and rolls his eyes at Scorpius. "I've told you a million times, he didn't. He didn't care at all, he was just relieved that I'd made true friends with anyone at all, what with having such an attention seeking surname and everything."

Scorpius looks up at the ceiling from his position of being flat on his back and sighs. "Rose's Dad flipped though, right?"

"Just a bit," Albus admits, setting his book down as he can tell this is going to be a long and meaningful and _probably boring_ conversation. "Because she's a girl and that's what Dads are like with them, I've seen it with Lily."

"Hmm. And what about Emma's Dad?" Scorpius closes his eyes and Albus gets up, shifting nearer to Scorpius and mimicking his pose, lying next to him.

"Well, you know him. Professor Longbottom's fine about you two being friends. If it was anything more, however..." Albus reddens. He's never been very good at talking about this sort of thing, what with James and Lily being so confident and always surrounded by admirers. He's always felt a bit out of touch, a bit _lost_.

Now it's Scorpius' turn to roll his eyes as he settles his hands behind his head so his sharp elbows stick out either side of his head. "I've told you a thousand times, I'm not interested in Emma."

Albus nods. "Okay, I get that. James is in love with her anyway, he just doesn't know it yet. But you _are _interested in Rose." He's always suspected Scorpius to have an interest in Rose, right from day one. Maybe it was because Scorpius and Rose were always annoying each other in one way or another like in the stories which had been told about his Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione. Maybe it was because they looked so good together, Scorpius being long and lean and Rose having that English rose look about her that made everyone jealous.

Scorpius snorts. "Not to be rude, Al, but she's not my type. _Way _too bookish."

"Then what _is _your type?" Albus asks, looking at his friend out of the corner of his eye. His heart starts thudding in time to Scorpius slow breathing, each thud taking him closer to the answer he is so desperate for.

Scorpius props himself up on one elbow and looks down at Albus, his best friend, the spitting image of Harry Potter, the boy who lived. "You," he says simply, almost seriously, and for a moment Albus believes him and is so ready for the moment he's been waiting for, but then Scorpius laughs and lays back down. "No, but seriously, mate, if I told you, you'd probably kill me."

Albus exhales and thinks if only, if only, if only.

_If only it was me you liked. If only I could kill you so I wouldn't have to like you anymore. If only you could tell that all I want is you._

Then he snaps back to reality and says "Come on then, she can't be that ugly. Spill." And he waits for the reply with a frozen grin fixed in place, and with a heart beating so fast it almost hurts.

The answer is worse than Albus could have possibly imagined.


	8. Frank & Lily

**Eight**

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**Pairing: **Frank Longbottom & Lily Evans

**Word Count: **541

**Summary: **Lily has always hated the word nice.

**Author's Note: **After so many attempts at slash I decided to go back to my comfort zone, although really this isn't so much because I love Lily with James and Frank with Alice. I hate to think of Frank being unfaithful- in this he is going out with Alice but Lily isn't with James yet. The pairing is from table E: Pairings that never happened. I'm really not sure about this one, but you'll have to decide for yourself what you think. I hope you like it- feedback is, as always, appreciated.

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Lily looks up to find two pairs of eyes on her and instantly looks down at her book again. She is used to Potter's obvious stares, but the ones from Frank are new. Frank, the tall, clumsy boy who's loved her best friend Alice since practically first year. Frank, the Gryffindor keeper always overshadowed by Potter, the captain and star chaser. Frank, the boy who last night she had found herself kissing in a corner of the common room.

If they'd been caught, she would have blamed drunkeness- there had been a party celebrating yet another Gryffindor win and by the end of the night a lot of people had been sandwiched in corners with people who in the morning they would regret they had even been near.

But however wrong for her Frank is, Lily cannot bring herself to regret it, and when she looks up again and sees Frank gesturing towards the portrait hole, she is not ashamed of the flurry of excitement in her stomach as she watches him leave and then gets up to follow him only one minute later.

And when they are kissing in a corridor that is foolishly too close to the common room, she does not feel an ounce of guilt for her poor best friend who is probably wondering where both of them are but is too good and gentle to suspect them being together. Lily hardly believes it herself, she just knows that Frank makes her feel alive and being alive is exactly what she has now realised that she's always craved.

For once in her life, she thinks as Frank kisses along her jaw-bone, _she _wants to be the bad one. The one who misses curfew, hands in homework late and dresses inappropriately. _She_ wants to be the girl that everybody wants and only a select few get to sample; the girl that every girl hates but all the boys love. Potter is always telling her to lighten up, so why shouldn't she?

Suddenly Frank pulls away, the heat gone from his eyes. "I can't do this- _we_ shouldn't do this," he whispers. He kisses Lily on the forehead and then leaves her there on the desk he'd lifted her so lovingly onto.

Alice's gentle face flashes before Lily's eyes and she buries her head in her hands as the tears and regret and self-hatred come to her. She cries harder and harder at how nicely Frank left her; at how nicely Alice will greet her when she gets back to the common room; at how nicely she will have to go back to behaving. Lily has always hated the word nice, because it has so often been deemed her loveliest trait. All that this silly episode, this so-called self-discovery- this desire to be a different person- has brought about is that the word _nice_ no longer applies to her.

What is even worse is that only she and Frank will know it. Everyone else will still see her as Lily Evans: the _nicest _girl they have ever met. Lily has never liked irony.


	9. Sirius & Harry

**Nine**

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**Pairing: **Sirius Black & Harry Potter

**Word Count: **731

**Summary: **Sirius has to remember that Harry isn't James.

**Author's Note: **Argh, I am having such writer's block at the moment. I am neglecting so many fics, and I'm sorry, but seriously, I'm trying to write new stuff all the time but none of it's working. I managed to get this down and liked it enough to keep it, although I find the pairing very, very creepy and I will never revisit them again. I know it isn't direct Sirius/Harry, and that there is implied Sirius/James and mentions of Harry/Cho, but that's the only way I could think to write it, sorry. This pairing is from Table G: Age Gap. Sorry if you don't like it, it's the only thing I could get down. Feedback is appreciated!

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"You look so much like your father," Sirius says from the windowsill where he sits, looking into the street below.

Harry smiles up at his godfather from his position on the floor, and then his eyes flick back to the photo Sirius gave him moments ago. It's a photo of James and Sirius, but only James is looking at the camera. His father smiles up at him, waving with one hand, his other looped around Sirius' back. Sirius himself is staring up at James, who is slightly taller than him, his eyes focused on James' face, almost drinking in James' lopsided grin. Harry almost feels a tear well up at the love they had for each other.

"That photo was taken the Christmas before Lily agreed to date your father," Sirius says, his dark eyes lingering on Harry. "She'd just rejected him again, and he was quite dejected, quite sad. I'd been living at his house for a couple of years by then, so it was only usual that I did everything I could to see him through his... pain. Silly, really, to get like that over a girl."

Something in the pit of Harry's stomach stirs and he thinks of his kiss with Cho and how since the fuss over Mr Weasley's attack has calmed down she's been all he could think about. "Yeah," he says lamely, not really meaning it. Then something occurs to him. "Did you ever had a girlfriend, Sirius?"

Sirius exhales. "Yes. I had a lot of girlfriends, Harry."

"Were you a bit of a ladies' man, then?" Harry jokes, just a flippant comment to which Sirius frowns.

"Anything but," he says softly, a blunt edge to his voice. "They were simply a way to pass the time."

Harry smiles, not quite understanding him, and looks back at the photo, at Sirius gazing at his father. It's almost... intimate. Harry shudders at the thought and turns the picture over, pretending to be interested in the date written in italic script- Sirius' strangely dignified handwriting.

Suddenly Sirius laughs, a short bark. "You know, your father used to call me that all the time. A ladies' man, I mean," he says, with a grin to Harry. "He couldn't have been more wrong," he mutters to himself.

Harry stands and walks over to Sirius to give him back the photo, which Sirius stares at intently, every so often his eyes flicking back up to Harry. "You are so like him," he mutters. "Aside from an inch or so in height, your scar and the colour of your eyes, you could be him."

Harry pretends not to listen, tired of all these comparisons now. He wants to know something new about his father- something that he can't be likened to.

Suddenly Sirius puts a hand on Harry's shoulder, firmly turning him to look at him. Sirius looks down at the photo, and up at Harry, and then stands, leaving the photo on the windowsill, to put both hands on Harry's shoulders. Harry tries to look away; he doesn't want to see his godfather cry.

Sirius leans forward and presses his lips to Harry's forehead. "You could be him," he murmurs against Harry's smooth skin, his lips an inch or so away from the scar that marks a difference between him and his father. Then Sirius pulls away from him, and in his haste to walk away, he catches the photo, which falls to the floor. Harry stares after his godfather, who turns at the door, his mouth a hard line. "I'll go make us a cup of tea."

Harry nods, awkwardly, because he isn't used to those sorts of displays of affection, at least not from Sirius, and then after his godfather leaves, bends to pick up the photo again. A word runs through his head as he looks at the expression on Sirius' face as he looks at James- _longing_- but he quickly shakes it away. They were friends. They were like brothers.

Downstairs, Sirius curses over and over as he sloppily makes the tea. "Remember, you bloody idiot," he says as he starts to pour it into one of the two mugs. "He isn't James."


	10. Pansy & Draco

**Ten**

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**Pairing: **Pansy Parkinson & Draco Malfoy

**Word Count: **315

**Summary: **Draco persuades Pansy that what they have isn't love.

**Author's Note: **Argh, I'm sorry I'm so slow with these. If you feel like I'm neglecting you you can try my fic 'taste your beating heart' which is another collection of pairings fic, which this was intentionally written for until I realised it would fit in here. On a good note, I'm 10% done! That must be good, right? Well anyways, as you know, feedback is ALWAYS appreciated, it motivates me like nothing else :)

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"I love you," she says, quietly, her voice slightly cracking on the last syllable. She's supposed to be confident, calm, collected- and usually is, but when she's alone with him, she falters. Especially in silent, emotional instances like these. When it's just him and her. Draco and Pansy.

"You don't," he says immediately, without even pausing for thought, pressing his lips to hers.

She pulls away and puts a hand on his chest. "No- I do."

Draco sighs and closes his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose before opening them again to look at her, those steely grey orbs penetrating hers so deeply she daren't look away. "Pansy, what you and I have- it's not love. It's amazing, it's exciting, it's great, it really is. But it's not love. Okay?"

She bites her lip and looks down at her hands, which are now twisting in her lap.

He sighs again. "Love doesn't exist, remember? Why should we bother with all the heavy stuff when we can just continue to have fun? Because we do have fun, don't we?"

She nods because they do- they have fun picking on younger students from other Houses and bitching about Potter and his clan.

He puts a hand on her shoulder, the closest his hands ever get to touching her face- she _so _wants him to stroke her hair or her cheek- and steers her to looking at him again. "So let's just continue having fun, shall we? No more nonsense about the l-word. We can forget this ever happened, can't we?"

She nods again and this time she smiles with it. "Okay."

He smiles and kisses her again, and this time she kisses him back because she knows it's the best she can get.


	11. Lily & Remus

**Eleven**

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**Pairing: **Lily Evans & Remus Lupin

**Word Count: **479

**Summary:** They both know they're perfect for each other- it's just a shame they're dating other people.

**Author's Note: **Feedback is appreciated.

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"I can't believe you're finally together," Remus says nervously to Lily. The two of them have been sat in an awkward silence in the library for little over an hour, only staying on the same table out of a mix of politeness and habit. It didn't used to be like this- they were, and are, very good friends- but ever since Lily started dating James something has shifted between them, and neither of them can ignore it.

"Yes," Lily says, her brow crinkling. "No hard feelings, though, Remus?" She bites her lip at her stupid question, gnawing at the familiar grooves. Remus almost tells her to stop, like he has done since he ever noticed her habit, but it doesn't seem right to reprimand her.

"Oh, gosh no," he says, too quickly. "You and I broke up over a year ago, Lily. We've both long since moved on."

"Hmm." She lifts up one of the books on the table between them and pretends to be reading the blurb. Remus eyes' focus on her delicate fingers.

"You with James, and me with Emmeline, of course," Remus says bravely, and then instantly regrets it when Lily drops the book with a clatter.

"Emmeline?" she chokes. "You're together now?" She sweeps her hair back from her eyes awkwardly in an attempt to hide her reddening face with her hand.

"Yes," Remus says uncomfortably. "I thought you knew- it's been flooding around the school rather quickly, although not as quickly as yours and James' news, of course."

"I knew she liked you... she never said... since when?"

"Th-this morning," Remus says, stumbling over his words. "She asked Sirius to ask me- you know that weird little friendship they have- and I told him to tell her yes."

"Oh," Lily says, for a moment looking very disconcerted. She brightens suddenly. "That's so romantic." Her grin, to some, would seem genuine, but Remus knows her better than most and sees straight through it.

"Mmm. So... you're okay about it?" He looks at his book on the table, distracting himself by reading the blurb.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Lily twists a strand of hair around her finger, trying to look nonchalant.

Remus shakes his head. "No reason in particular. It's just, she's your friend, and I know that you'd want the best for her."

_And she has it_, Lily can't stop herself thinking. "No- she's, I mean _you're_, very lucky."

"As is James," Remus says politely. _Luckier than anyone in the world._

They smile at each other, both faking contentment, and get back to their books- although neither is able to stop sneaking frequent glances at the other. They both know they're perfect for each other- it's just a shame they're dating other people.


	12. Harry & Ginny

**Twelve**

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**Pairing: **Harry Potter & Ginny Weasley

**Word Count: **342

**Summary: **"I could sit out here forever."

**Author's Note:** I wrote this ages ago and didn't like it, so I didn't post it because I hoped I could write something better for this pairing. I admit defeat. I'm afraid that I truly can't write anything else for them. I think it's just because I really hate writing about Ginny. Anyway, so I'm sorry for the lack of enthusiasm in my writing, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. I'm hoping that over the summer I'll get back into the swing of writing this!

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Ginny's skin is pallid in the moonlight and the freckles that adorn it stand out in sharp relief. She has goosebumps (from the cold- there is nothing to be scared of anymore), and for a moment Harry wonders if he should ask if she would like to go inside. Selfishly, he doesn't say a word- instead, relishes the feeling of her back pressed against his chest, his head buried in her shoulder and his arms around her slim waist; the sound of her breathing; the salty, orangey smell of her hair.

"I could sit out here forever," Ginny murmurs, her head tilted up towards the moon.

Harry lifts his forehead from her shoulder and looks up at the moon too. "Me too."

Ginny turns to him and touches her lips to his for a heartbeat, then looks at him, her brown eyes sincere. He can tell, through instinct or through loving her so much that he feels connected with her, that she's going to tell him something she's been wanting to for a while.

"Ginny?" he prompts.

"I love you," she says, quickly, and her eyes flick away from him momentarily, and then back. "I never told you before because I was scared- I was scared you wouldn't come back. But you don't do anything that scares me anymore. You make me feel safer than anyone."

Harry looks back at her, the hint of a smile in the upturned corners of his lips. She smiles rather sheepishly, because it's taken her a very long time for her to tell him- he told her months ago- and because she's never told anyone this before.

He doesn't say it back, but instead cups the back of her head with one hand and draws her lips to his. He doesn't say it, because he wants her to feel it. And she does.


	13. Voldemort & Harry

**Thirteen**

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******Pairing: **Voldemort & Harry Potter

**Word Count: **400

**Summary: **Harry Potter remained the only thing in his way to absolute power.

**Author's Note:**This is so awful. I hate the pairing and thus found it incredibly difficult to write anything even resembling romance between them, so eventually I decided on writing Voldemort admiring Harry's physique and evident capability to be a Death Eater (had he not been The Chosen One and all). I really hope you don't hate it as much as I do and just appreciate it for what it is, a small insight into the twisted mind of Voldemort.

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"The boy who lived... come to die." Voldemort sneers, looking curiously at the boy in front of him. The years since Voldemort last saw him have changed him- he looks more a man than a boy now, the weight of the world heavy on his shoulders. Voldemort thinks of Severus, and his petty obsession with the boy's mother- he peers at Harry for a resemblance and sees it only in his eyes.

He supposes that had Harry been a Slytherin and in his year at school, he would have wanted him to become a Death Eater. The essentials areall there: the strong physique; being not so tall as to be able to look he, Voldemort, straight in the eye, but tall enough to be considered imposing; his jet black hair- so similar to the hair he himself used to have; his strong jaw; his impressive wand-work, his incessant luck at eluding death- almost a perfect candidate. Even the scar, which Voldemort now admires as his own art work, gives the boy a distinctly dangerous look about him. The only problem in Harry's appearance (pretending that he isa candidate for Death Eater internship and not The Chosen One and the intended recipient of Voldemort's next killing curse), is his frankly rather disgusting eyes. Even though before he was reborn he shared Harry's eye colour, Harry's are far more gentle and forgiving than his ever were. Harry's eyes are womanly, a trait definitely belonging to his mother, and thus, as she was just a pathetic mudblood, Voldemort deems them a weak point in Harry's general appearance.

Voldemort suddenly realises how long he has been staring at Harry, and goes back to preparing him for death. Because, despite being in looks near perfect for his own following, Harry Potter remains the only thing in his way to absolute power. No matter how striking he is, he must die.

After he has killed him and felt the initial rush of euphoria, a strangely compassionate thought enters his head that it was a shame for someone so capable of being a Death Eater to die. Then the euphoria kicks in again, and he orders the march up to the castle where he can take pleasure in killing many more young men and women, forgetting he ever thought Harry capable and rejoicing in the fact that the boy who lived is finally, _finally _dead.


	14. Dean & Parvati

**Fourteen**

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******Pairing: **Dean Thomas & Parvati Patil

**Word Count: **396

**Summary: **Dean sketches Parvati.

**Author's Note:** Wow, I cannot believe I've come back. It's been three years since I last wrote any fanfiction and in that time I've grown up. A lot has changed in the last three years but I still love Harry Potter. I don't love writing quite as much (I went for science at university rather than English) but sometimes I still get the bug to write and since I have no original inspiration I thought I'd return to that which I know and love. Maybe one day I'll finish this, who knows. For any of my old reviewers that return, thank you so much and I'm sorry for seemingly deserting you all, I can't tell you how much your kind words meant to me and still do. To any new reviewers, thank you. By the way, this isn't my best work, but it's a way back in. It's from Table B: Sober Universe.

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Dean is an artist, and Parvati is aesthetic.

That's why he starts sketching her in the first place. Just a few doodles here and there, mostly in classes when she's not paying attention and starts playing with her long silky hair, or when she rests her chin in her hand and daydreams.

His first full length portrait of her is drawn in the common room. Lavender has been reshaping Parvati's Yule Ball dress robes partly as a distraction from the horrific things that keep happening every day and partly as an expression of the hope that they all share that one day they'll have a reason for dress robes again.

Parvati has been forced still by Lavender for the last time (the threat of Lavender's impressive petrificus totalus was eventually enough) and stands elegantly on the stool, her eyes flicking around the room while Lavender busies herself with the hem. Dean's portrait takes shape quickly and he wishes he hadn't recently run out of paint- football and muggle drawing equipment remain his guilty pleasures- because someone this pretty needs colour.

He's just finishing his shading when he glances up to check the arch of her neck is right and realises that she's moved. Lavender is sat tidying her sewing basket and it takes him a couple of glances around the room to realise a shadow has fallen across his sketchpad. He looks up and she's there, looking down at the portrait with a confused expression. He glances down at it too and winces- due to rationing his precious paper (drawing on parchment just isn't the same) this particular piece is covered with drawings: Parvati eating, Parvati smiling, Parvati sleeping.

'This isn't what you-' he starts, and falters when she reaches for the pad.

'These are so good. How long have you been drawing me?' she asks gently, starting to flip the pages. The bangles on her wrist jingle and he glances at them out of habit- they're hard to draw and a close up is always welcome.

'Er-' he starts up again and reddens as she finds a particularly intricate portrait of her laughing.

'A long time, it looks like,' she grins and sits down next to him, handing back the sketchpad and covering his hand with hers. 'But why?'

Dean shrugs. 'I'm an artist.' Parvati smiles and he feels his confidence bolstered. 'And you're beautiful.'


End file.
